Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 330 AM EDT Fri Apr 19 2019 Valid 12Z Fri Apr 19 2019 - 12Z Sun Apr 21 2019 ...Severe thunderstorms and heavy to excessive rainfall possible across the East on Friday... ...Record to near record warm overnight temperatures likely across much of the East and parts of the West Friday and Saturday mornings... An anomalous upper level system lifting from the lower Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley/Mid-Atlantic this weekend will drive a cold front through the Eastern U.S. Widespread showers and storms are expected along and ahead of the front bringing the potential for heavy rainfall and strong to severe thunderstorms. The greatest threat for severe weather (mainly damaging winds and isolated tornadoes) will be across parts of the Carolinas and Southern Mid-Atlantic where the Storm Prediction Center has a moderate risk posted for Friday. A slight to enhanced risk exists across the rest of the Mid-Atlantic and the Southeast. Meanwhile, WPC highlights parts of the Mid-Atlantic (Friday) and the Northeast (on Saturday) within a slight risk for excessive rainfall, and flash flood watches are in effect across these regions as well. While the cold front should clear the East Coast by the weekend, heavy rainfall may continue through Saturday across New England along the attendant warm front. Ahead of the approaching cold front on Friday, temperatures will be near to above average, with widespread record high minimum (overnight) temperatures expected this morning for much of the Eastern states, and again Saturday morning across the Northeast. Behind the front, daytime highs across the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys could be 10 to 20 degrees below average into the weekend. Out West, a cold front moving into the Pacific Northwest this morning will drop southward into the Great Basin and the Northern Rockies by Saturday. Expect light to moderate precipitation to accompany this front, with only minor snow accumulations expected in the highest elevations. Ahead of this front, strong upper level ridging will result in well above average temperatures across much of the West on Friday, with a handful of record warm overnight temperatures possible for some locations. The Pacific Northwest should cool behind the front, with the warm weather shifting eastward into the Central U.S. on Saturday where afternoon highs in the upper-70s to mid-80s across parts of the Central and Northern Plains would be as much as 10 to 20 degrees above average. Santorelli Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php